Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi BJJ DVD outlining how to master the elusive art of flow pressure while passing
- Features a shot of techniques and concepts on passing inside and outside of the legs.
- Offers a set of useful drills to enforce what you learn in the technical sections.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10.
FLOW PRESSURE KAUAN BARBOZA DVD HERE:
You’ve heard black belts talk about cooking your opponents from top position, and about using pressure to make them suffer without trying to achieve a specific goal as fast as possible. While easy to understand, this particular aspect of BJJ is notoriously hard to execute, especially for those newer to the sport.
The Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD offers an easy-to-understand perspective on the whole thing, by limiting pressure from top to passing only. This allows for lots of motion, which, in turn, makes flow pressure possible. Once you get the hang of flowing pressure, static pin pressure becomes a piece of cake.
What is Flow Pressure?
You’ve heard of flowing in BJJ, and I bet you’ve heard, AND felt pressure. The question is, can you combine them together? Logically, it seems you can’t because in order to flow you need motion, and usually, in BJJ, for pressure, you need to stay relatively static.
What’s tripping you up here is context. Pressure is not the same across all aspects of grappling, most notably passing and pinning. For the most part, people think of pressure in terms of mount, side control, or knee on belly. While correct, this is not the same pressure that you would and should use during passing, nor is it pressure that allows for a simultaneous flow.
The Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD does a great job of explaining what passing pressure is and how using motion until you reach a pin is what makes passes and attacks against the guard effective. After all, you can’t pass if you don’t move, regardless of how heavy you are, right?
Checkmat HQ Coach Kauan Barboza
Not many kids from Brazil who only care about soccer make the transition to Jiu-Jitsu, and even fewer end up excelling as grapplers. Kauan Barboza is one of those few, having swapped soccer for BJJ as a teenager, and developed into one of the top professional grapplers to represent Checkmat these days.
Originally from Rio, Kauan actually wanted to try out Japanese Ju Jitsu, but his father knew a BJJ coach named Ari “Galo” a standout representative of the Carlson Gracie lineage. Barboza started competing almost immediately after signing up, winning a bunch of medals that led him to the No-Gi worlds in 2015 as a purple belt.
He met his next coach Andre Vasconcelos there, and ended up under his mentorship, eventually getting his black belt from Andre in 2017. Barboza quickly adapted to the Checkmat HQ, even marrying inside the academy. Eventually, Vasconcelos and Leo Vieira asked Kauan to pick up a coaching position at the headquarters academy.
The Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD shows what his game and approach are all about. Curiously, even though it is a passing DVD by a guard specialist, it offers incredible concepts that make enormous sense.
Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD Review
The Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD contains two volumes and offers just over an hour of material. There is a clear structure to the instructional, which is No-Gi and contains technical and tactical information and great drill setup ideas.
Part 1 – Drills & Outside Passing
Kauan starts off introducing his take on passing by going through four drills, each targeting a specific pass. All of them refer to passing sequences that lead you around the bottom person’s legs, also known as outside guard passing.
As Barboza gets to the technical portion of the Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD, his first order of business is to demonstrate a slick way of solving inverted guards by using leg drags. He also covers lots of shin-to-shin control via wipers to trap a leg and open up passing opportunities.
One of the most noticeable things is that Kauan doesn’t try to pass as quickly as possible, but rather focuses on constantly making the bottom person carry his weight. Even more, by favoring the shin-to-shin position he places focused pressure that inevitably opens up options for all the passes he shows, such as double under, folding, knee cut, etc.
Part 2 – Inside Guard Passing
By inside passing, Kauan means dealing mostly with half-guard variations. Sticking to the constant pressure concepts already presented in the first volume of the Kauan Barboza Pressure DVD, he now demonstrates how to use passing pressure to expose the back or finish past the legs using different methods.
The portion covering the deep half guard was particularly interesting. In it, Barboza explains exactly how to make the bottom person carry you, even though they chose that guard, ending with either a pass or a Berimbolo.
Finally, as the instructional comes to a close, the focus is on knee slice pass, done on both sides of the guard. Switching sides and pass destinations is the perfect example of the flow pressure concept Barboza is introducing here.
Tactical Guard Passing
Passing is a very complex part of BJJ and one that nobody can say they’ve mastered. There is to much live work and unpredictable behavior to be able to claim that you know exactly what to do against all guard threats you might face on the mats.
That said, a passing strategy is never a bad thing to have. In fact, it is imperative that you approach guards tactically, whether it is by looking to stall, out-maneuver your opponent, or pressure them into removing their guard.
This last bit seems to be a real favorite of many people, but the end result is never like the stuff they see on YouTube. That’s because the pressure you need during passing is not the same as the pressure you use for pinning, a distinction that is perfectly made in the Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD.
DOWNLOAD HERE: FLOW PRESSURE KAUAN BARBOZA DVD
Pressure On!
Time to put some pressure on the next person who decides to play guard against you! Equipped with the solutions for both inside and outside guard passion from the Flow Pressure Kauan Barboza DVD, all that is left now is to iron out the kinks from trying something new and enjoy your newfound passing success. Let me tell you, passing a guard after you take a person’s soul with pressure feels much more gratifying than simply cutting through!
Tozi Pass And Pressure Passing Mechanics DVD by Roberto Tozi
